The following interview was taken from beyondthebeat.net:
Anthony Davis has a unique story as he went from being an unknown prospect to the #1 rated prospect (at least according to ESPN) practically overnight. Well, that’s somewhat of an exaggeration as it was really a little over the course of a year, but it’s a remarkable feat in that most of these kids have been pegged by scouts ever since the day they first picked up a basketball.
The reason for this sudden increase in interest was that Davis hit a late growth spurt. During his junior year and extending into his senior year, he grew seven inches, sprouting from 6’3’’ to 6’10’’ during that time. As a senior, Davis went on to average 32 points and 19 rebounds per game. He’s a special player, too, in that he maintained his skills as he grew, effectively giving him guard-like abilities with a power forward body.
When asked about whether his late development was an advantage or a disadvantage, Davis said he could see both sides, but that he felt it was mostly for the worse.
“I think I’m at a disadvantage. These [other prospects] I’ve known for quite a while, their whole high school careers, and they’ve been through this USA thing, other camps and all that, and this is my first year going through all this. So they know what to expect and all the drills and everything, so it’s putting me at a disadvantage.”
Alternatively, when asked about whether the late growth helped further develop his ball handling and passing, he agreed:
“I was 6’3” last year so I was playing at the guard and on the wing, so now that puts me at an advantage over other bigs.”
Speaking of an advantage over other bigs, I asked Davis if he had scouted the guys he’d be matched up against on Saturday, casually mentioning that both Nogueira and Biyombo each have a 9’3’’ standing reach.
“We saw them walk in here," he said. "They’re very tall. So that’s going to make my job a lot harder – we’re not that tall. But at the same time we’ve just gotta go out there and work hard.”
He’ll have the help of his teammates, and particularly, multiple other Kentucky committed players. In this Nike Hoop Summit game, 4 of the 21 total invitees are all headed to the University of Kentucky next year. Three are on the US Team and one is on the World Team.
I asked Davis if all the practices leading up to this game and the practices from the McDonald’s All-American Game have helped the four build an early comradery.
He answered, “It feels great, I get a chance to see how we play well with each other and how we’re going to play next year. It just gives us the opportunity to get used to each other a little more. It gives us the chance to play with each other before Kentucky, so I think it was a great advantage to see how we bond or see what we’ve gotta change before we get to Kentucky, because we want to win."
And not only win games, but win a championship. Davis thinks this is certainly possible:
“Yeah, we go out there and play like we know what we’re capable of, and we go out there and work hard and play hard every game, then yeah, we most definitely can win a championship next year.”
It’s pretty obvious that Davis is already looking ahead to the NBA. He didn’t come out and say it directly, but he’s well aware of John Calipari’s ability to quickly turn his program around year after year and churn out world-class lottery talent at the same time.
He had the following to say about playing for the popular coach:
“I feel good, you know he’s a great coach, he gets guys to the NBA and that’s where I wanna go. He develops them to get ready for the NBA. He doesn’t just go out there and coach, but he also trains them to make them better as players.”
When pressed about whether his intention was to leave after one year, his answer became a little more vague.
“Uh, I’m not gonna… you know, I’m not sure? It depends on my college play, you know, I could go one year or four years. I’m just gonna let it play out and if I think I’m ready to go to the NBA. It’s a situation that me and my family have to sit down and talk about.”
At the end of the interview, Davis shared what he most wants to show everyone on Saturday:
“My shooting ability, and my dribbling and passing ability. I think they think bigs can’t shoot, dribble, and pass. People don’t know that I was 6’3” last year, that I still have that guard mentality. I wanna show people that I can do that as well.”
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